LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i voter turnout was slightly less than the statewide turnout for the primary election, but 49% of registered voters had their ballots counted on Kaua‘i.
Statewide, the total turnout was 51% — 406,425 of the 795,248 total registered to vote in the primary. On Kaua‘i, 22,047 of the 45,135 registered submitted ballots.
And of those ballots that made it into the count, most of them were sent to the Office of the Country Clerk Elections Division by mail — 22,003 out of the total counted votes, leaving only 404 people who chose to vote in person. It was the first election in which mail-in ballots have been the main voting method.
Three printouts of results were released Saturday night, with the last round of results time-stamped at just before 11 p.m. Sunday morning, the fourth printout was released. Throughout the ballot counting, the lineup for the Kaua‘i County Council race stayed the same, with all five incumbents among the top 14 candidates who are now advancing to the general election.
Seven of those 14 will be chosen as the new or returning members of the council in November. As of 11:30 a.m. Sunday, those seven, from first to seventh, are Mason Chock, Luke Evslin, Arryl Kaneshiro, Bernard Carvalho, KipuKai Kuali‘i, Felicia Cowden and Billy DeCosta.
Separating DeCosta and the candidate at place number eight, Jade Wai‘ale‘ale Battad, are just under 1,700 votes. Dr. Addison Bulosan sits at number nine on the list, just 129 votes behind Battad.
In the race for state Representative, District 15 (Wailua to Lawa‘i), incumbent James Tokioka (D) gained 72.8% of the votes by those who took Democratic Party ballots in the single-party primary, with Steve Yoder (R) advancing to the general election. In the race for state Representative, District 16 (Koloa to Barking Sands, Ni‘ihau), incumbent Dee Morikawa (D) gained 72% of the vote, and will face Republican challenger Ana Mo Des in the general.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau resident Trustee and incumbent Dan Ahuna took 32.9% of the votes on Saturday, with challenger Kamealoha Smith receiving 19.4% of the votes and challenger Brittny Perez catch 1,903 votes. Keli‘i Akina took the most votes for the at-large trustee position (see the related story, A4).
Running unopposed for county prosecuting attorney, incumbent Justin Kollar garnered 64.5% of the votes, with 35.5% of ballots left blank.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the nation will cast ballots in the general election, which will not only be the final step in narrowing down the elections for county offices, but also will decide the next president of the United States.
Those who still need to register to vote can do so through Oct. 5, and registration can be done online through the state Office of Elections.
